American Dream Essay

The idea of the American dream is clearly represented in the works of American writers, as the whole American community was built by people who arrived on the continent in pursuit of their dreams. The ultimate desire of most people is to achieve wealth and prosperity by working hard.

The pillars of American society are freedom and equal opportunity for all people, and those ideals were established at the foundation of the United States of America. Despite this fact, there were centuries of slavery, and even after it was abolished, Afro-Americans did not obtain all the rights and freedoms until the 1960s. The period between WWII and the 1960s was the most crucial in the relationship between races, as far as the main ideals of soldiers in WWII were to fight for the equal freedoms and opportunities for all; however, back in the USA, there was still much acceptance between white communities and Afro-Americans. This problem is brought up by Lorraine Hansberry in ‘A Raisin in the Sun’. The book's main hero in terms of pursuing his dreams is Walter Lee Junior Younger. “Something has changed. You something new, boy. In my time we was worried about not being lynched and getting to the North if we could and how o stay alive and still have a pinch of dignity too...Now here come you and Beneatha –talking ‘bout things we ain’t never even thought about hardly, me and your daddy. You ain’t satisfied or proud of nothing we done. I mean that you had a home; that we kept you out of trouble till you was grown; that you don’t have to ride to work on the back of nobody’s streetcar – You my children - but how different we done become”(Act 1, Scene 1, p.62). This paragraph highlights the major problem of that time is the self-fulfillment of their dreams and believes. Moreover, their lives were no longer centred on purely surviving but on pursuing their dreams and achieving success and prosperity.

Walter Lee Junior dreams of investing money into a liquor business; however, his dream is crushed as his companion steals the money invested into the business. Moreover, Walter Lee Junior is also experiencing another crisis as he is the head of the family and cannot provide a decent living for his family. What is more, the fact that he is underachieving is aggravated by the fact that he is a black man and that society does not treat him with acceptance. The inherited money were supposed to provide for them a chance to escape to the better neighbourhood and to start a new better life. However, they are faced with another problem: the white community appears to be extremely neutral, still showing reluctance to have Younger's family around in its neighbourhood.

The other dream crash is described in the book ‘Death of a Salesman’ by Arthur Miller. The story's main hero is the salesman Willy Loman, who is presented as a well-respected salesman. However, throughout the story, the true picture is revealed, and it is clear that Willy and all his family live under the delusion of achieving the American dream and becoming a prosperous and respected family. Moreover, they are struggling with financial problems and seem to deceive themselves: “You and Hap and I, and I’ll show you all the towns. America is full of beautiful towns and fine, upstanding people. And they know me, boys; they know me up and down New England. The finest people. And when I bring you fellas up, there’ll be open sesame for all of us, ‘cause one thing, boys: I have friends. I can park my car in any street in New England, and the cops protect it like their own” (Act 1, p. 19). This proves that Willy Loman believes he is important and influential and believes in these illusions.

American dream as a pillar of American society is a main path that defines achievement amongst other people. Therefore, Willy Loman prefers to think of himself as a successful salesman, and his family is also lured into this illusion. The play shows how their illusions break and how only one person of the whole family admits the truthful despair of the situation, while others prefer to continue down the path of self-delusion. Only one of the sons, Biff, chooses not to lie to himself. He is probably the strongest character of all, as far as Willy cannot take the disappointment and kills himself, and other family members still live in the illusions. This play highlights the main problem of the modern society and, particularly, the main downsides of the American Dream are the heightened aspirations and huge expectations. Furthermore, it underlines that people with high ambitions have difficulty accepting the reality that does not always fit their expectations.

To sum up, the idea of the American dream seems very attractive, but the plays show the reality in which only a few manage to achieve their expectations. Moreover, they show the struggle inside people’s souls that breaks out when they realize that they are far from achieving their dreams and fulfilling their desires.

References

A Raisin in the Sun. Retrieved from https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=1928f427f46c0d33fb9ad6dab7549749a7db341f

Miller, A. Death of a Salesman. Retrieved from https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZGVmYXVsdGRvbWFpbnxtcnNjYW5sYXN8Z3g6MTQ1NjQzODg2N2VjNjljMg